Culture Shock

THE EXPLOITATION OF
J-1 CULTURAL EXCHANGE WORKERS

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About the Southern Poverty Law Center

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and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.

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Culture Shock
THE EXPLOITATION OF
J-1 CULTURAL EXCHANGE WORKERS

2 0 1 4 S O U T H E R N P O V E R T Y L AW C E N T E R

J-1 workers are promised the

opportunity to experience American
culture. Too often, they are exploited
for cheap labor.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
They come to experience all America has to offer.
They hope to pay their way by working a summer job as they experience
a new culture and learn English. They work in our hotels, restaurants, fastfood chains and amusement parks. They work for companies with names
synonymous with the United States: McDonalds, Disney, Hilton and more.
Theyre J-1 guest workers.
Many of them are college students participating in the J-1 visa Summer
Work Travel Program. Others come here to train in their career field as part
of the J-1 Trainee and Intern Program. Together, these two J-1 visa categories
account for more than 130,000 foreign workers arriving in the U.S. each year
to work full-time as part of the wider J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program.
Congress created the program more than 50 years ago to increase
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the
people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchange.1
Foreign youths pay American job placement agencies designated by the
Department of State called sponsors to be placed with U.S. employers in jobs that offer cultural exchange opportunities and, for trainees and
interns, professional job training.
But the workers in the Summer Work Travel and the Intern and Trainee
programs often discover that the promise of cultural exchange is an
empty one.
Employers are using the program to fill labor needs, transforming a
program designed to foster international goodwill into a source of cheap,
exploitable labor. For the employers, the program offers a way to cut labor
costs. Employers do not have to pay payroll taxes for J-1 workers.2 The savings an employer can realize by not paying an employees Medicare, Social
Security or federal unemployment tax around 8 percent on its total payroll expenses have led staffing agencies to promote the program as an
inexpensive labor force.3
The sponsors and their overseas partners the groups that recruit and
screen participants also are reaping a windfall by charging J-1 workers
hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fees to participate in the program.
These fees are completely unregulated, and students and their families
often fall into debt to pay them and other travel expenses. This recruitment

The undeniable conclusion is that these J-1

programs, initiatives once envisioned as tools
of diplomacy, have become little more than a
source of cheap labor for employers.
debt leaves students vulnerable to exploitation. Faced with pressure to pay
off loans, students and interns may opt to endure workplace abuse until
they can return home.
J-1 workers often discover the cultural experience they invested in does
not exist. They are frequently placed in low-paying jobs with little or no
opportunity for cultural exchange. Students told the SPLC that their experience is dominated by work without the opportunity to enjoy American culture. This is true even after the State Department, which oversees the program, began requiring sponsors in 2012 to place J-1 students in jobs that
ensure they have cultural exchange opportunities on and off the job. From
students experiences, its clear this cultural exchange requirement too
often exists only on paper.
When these workers arent on the job, they are often forced to live in
overcrowded housing with other J-1 workers. They are frequently paid less
than the minimum wage after their employer makes excessive deductions
for housing, uniforms, transportation and other expenses. Some J-1 workers
discover they must work a second job just to survive.
But this is more than a story of debt and disappointment. It has put some
young students at risk of human trafficking and other nefarious activity.4 The
State Departments 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report noted that vulnerabilities in the J-1 program can potentially facilitate human trafficking.5
When these workers complain or try to stand up for their rights, they find
few places to turn. The State Department claims it has no authority to sanction employers and typically does little to help workers with employmentrelated issues. J-1 workers cannot access federally funded legal services to
help them address workplace violations. And few private lawyers are willing
to take a complicated case that involves internationally recruited workers.
U.S. workers also suffer from the programs weak regulation. Employers
arent required to recruit U.S. workers before hiring J-1 workers. There are
no meaningful regulations that prevent employers from paying J-1 workers
a wage that undercuts U.S. worker wages. This lack of protection is particularly harmful to young U.S. workers who are facing high youth unemployment rates.6

It should be no surprise that efforts to reform this program have been

met with stiff opposition by those profiting from it. When the U.S. Senate
passed anti-trafficking provisions to regulate overseas recruiters in 2013
including a ban on recruitment fees charged to workers seeking temporary
work visas J-1 sponsors and employers persuaded lawmakers to carve out
an exception for the J-1 visa.7
This report is based on hundreds of interviews with J-1 Summer Work
Travel participants and interns and trainees working across the South, primarily in the hospitality industry. These interviews revealed that regardless of the workers country of origin or whether they participated in the
Summer Work Travel Program or the Trainee and Intern Program, the
experience is the same. The undeniable conclusion is that these J-1 programs, initiatives once envisioned as tools of diplomacy, have become little
more than a source of cheap labor for employers.
Based on the SPLCs investigation, it is clear, in fact, that the program
suffers from the same flaws as other guest worker programs. The SPLC has
represented thousands of guest workers in lawsuits to protect them from
wage theft, discrimination, illegal recruitment practices and other abuses.
As evidenced by these lawsuits, temporary foreign workers are extremely
vulnerable to recruitment and workplace abuse.8
The J-1 program, however, is much larger than the nations other major
low-wage guest worker program the H-2 temporary worker program.9 But
the J-1 program lacks many of that programs worker protections.10 Perhaps
more troubling is that the U.S. government and its sponsors globally advertise the J-1 program as a cultural exchange not a temporary work program even though that is clearly what the Summer Work Travel and the
Trainee and Intern categories have become.
Without true reform, our nation will continue to send disillusioned
young people home every year with stories about U.S. employers and their
insatiable appetite for cheap, exploitable labor.
I would never have come had I known the job was going to be so bad,
said Joom, a Thai student who spent almost all of her cultural exchange
scrambling to clean 20 hotel rooms a day in Louisiana. Housekeeping is
hard work my body hurt. This was not the cultural experience that we
paid for.
Our nation can no longer continue to break its promise with foreign
workers such as Joom. The J-1 program must return to its original mission of cultural exchange. It also must have mechanisms in place to protect young U.S. workers in the job market. Recommendations for reform are
offered at the end of this report.

What is the J-1 Visa Exchange

Visitor Program?
The J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program was created by Congress more than
50 years ago to encourage diplomacy and to strengthen the ties which
unite us with other nations through cultural exchange.11
The program has 14 categories of visitors, including professors and
research scholars, college and university students, camp counselors and au
pairs. Nearly 300,000 workers enter the United States each year on J-1 visas
in one of the various categories.
This report focuses on two categories that have been particularly susceptible to exploitation: the J-1 Summer Work Travel Program (SWT), which
promises college students an opportunity to work and travel in the United
States, and the J-1 Trainee and Intern Program, which promises students
and recent graduates an opportunity for work experience that will help
sharpen the skills necessary for the participants chosen profession. Both
categories promise opportunities for cultural exchange.

Key points to know about the J-1 program

k More than 130,000 workers participate in the SWT and Trainee and
Intern programs, combined, each year. Participants are generally between
the ages of 18 and 30. They work in all 50 states in the U.S. and are in the
country for up to four months for SWT participants or up to 12 to 18 months
for trainees and interns.12
k The J-1 program is overseen by the State Department. Other temporary
foreign worker programs for jobs in similar occupations (i.e., guest worker
programs) are overseen by the Department of Labor, which has far greater
experience regulating work programs.
k Workers who want to participate in the SWT and Trainee and Intern programs must connect with a State Department-designated sponsor, which
can be a governmental or nonprofit organization or for-profit corporation.
The sponsor places the students or interns in jobs with U.S. employers.13
k Sponsors rely on overseas recruiters to find and screen potential J-1
workers. Sponsors and recruiters charge fees to workers that range from
hundreds to thousands of dollars. This process is entirely unregulated, and
there is no limit on the fees that can be charged.
k Sponsors are responsible for the well-being of the participants, including
vetting potential jobs and ensuring participants receive cultural exchange
opportunities. The State Department relies on these sponsors to monitor
employers compliance with program regulations.14

SECTION ONE

Foreign students
deceived, exploited with
little recourse
The flashy websites, flyers and sales pitches are often difficult for students
to resist.
Recruiters promise the opportunity of a lifetime to students overseas a
chance to live and work in the United States for several months while learning about American culture and improving their English. They promise
good wages and show photos of attractive jobsites and housing.
Its all part of a pitch that sells a specific experience. After hearing it,
many students reach the same conclusion: Working in the United States is
an investment in a better future, one that is worth paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in recruiter fees and other costs.
Recruiters, of course, have a financial incentive to make the jobs seem
as attractive as possible. Sponsors and recruiters claim that the fees they
charge cover the cost of administering the program,15 but it is clear they are
reaping a windfall. A 2010 investigation by The Associated Press found that
the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program generates millions of dollars in
revenue for sponsors and recruiters.16
The fees that foreign recruiters and sponsors charge students are completely unregulated, and J-1 students often borrow money to pay them. In
Jamaica, for example, where the minimum wage is $49.20 for a 40-hour
week,17 or $1.23 an hour, students reported to the SPLC that it is not unusual
for their parents to remain mired in debt after paying $2,000 in recruitment
and placement fees. As in other guest worker programs for low-skill workers, this debt leaves students extremely vulnerable to exploitation and even
human trafficking.
Too often, the experiences these students encounter do not resemble the
pictures on the glossy brochures and websites. Many discover, after they

Orla Hurley, a Summer Work Travel student from

Ireland, worked 13 hours a day, six days a week,
without overtime pay at a T-shirt shop in Myrtle
Beach, S.C. She felt unsafe walking home every
morning at 1 a.m. I get scared walking home at
night. The guys here say things that make me
9
uncomfortable.

Instead of exploring American

cities and tourist destinations, J-1
workers have reported cultural
exchange experiences dominated
by work.

have invested in the program, that their U.S. employer and sponsor care
largely about cheap labor and feel little obligation to live up to the promises
that were made.
These students often report feeling deceived about their job, their
housing, their earnings and the cultural exchange opportunities. As
Katerina, a J-1 student from Bulgaria, said, Back home they dont tell you
that youll have to get a second job because you wont be able to afford to
live on just one.
Students interviewed by the SPLC also said recruiters charged exorbitant
fees, forced them to sign fraudulent contracts, ignored complaints or even
retaliated against them when they lodged complaints about their sponsors
or employers.
The State Department, which oversees the program, acknowledges
that misleading information in the recruitment process can be a problem
because the foreign entities initial outreach to the potential program participants sets the stage for participants expectation about the Summer
Work Travel Program.18 Nevertheless, the government does not regulate
recruiters, and abuse and fraud continue to flourish as a result.19 Given that
there are nearly 1,000 international recruiters involved in the SWT program, this lack of regulation is extremely problematic.20

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When I signed up for the J-1 program, I had

the impression it would be a cultural exchange
with people from other countries where I
would meet people and practice my English,
but that wasnt the case.
CHRISTIAN, A J-1 STUDENT FROM PERU

Essentially work programs

The cultural exchange goals of the program are routinely overshadowed by

the programs work component. Students reported to the SPLC that sponsors frequently placed them in low-wage jobs with little or no opportunity for cultural interaction and failed to offer opportunities for cultural
exchange during non-work hours as the regulations require.
When I signed up for the J-1 program, I had the impression it would be a
cultural exchange with people from other countries where I would meet people and practice my English, but that wasnt the case, said Christian, a J-1
student from Peru who cleaned hotel rooms at a Mississippi casino resort.
The State Department requires sponsors to place participants in jobs
that have a cultural exchange component jobs that have opportunities
to work alongside U.S. citizens and interact regularly with U.S. citizens to
experience U.S. culture during the workday portion of their Summer Work
Travel programs.21
The regulations also lay out a number of jobs that are barred for participants, including jobs that are not seasonal or that require a substantial amount of work on the graveyard shift (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), when opportunities for cultural interactions would be minimized. The department
expanded the list of prohibited jobs in 2012 to ensure participant safety and
access to cultural exchange.22
But the State Departments Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
noted in a 2012 report that the department has failed to seriously enforce
the programs cultural exchange component. The report recommended
either discontinuing the program altogether or changing the designation
of these visas so they are no longer considered to offer cultural exchange
opportunities.
The OIG team questions the appropriateness of allowing what are
essentially work programs to masquerade as cultural exchange activities,23
the report noted.
Volodymyr Gasii, an engineering student from the Ukraine who

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participated in the SWT program in summer 2013, learned this firsthand.

He worked as a food preparer at two restaurants in Gulf Shores, Ala., sometimes as many as 84 hours per week just to sustain himself. He had little
time to seek out the cultural experience he was promised.
Workers and advocates also have exposed the programs cultural
exchange goals as a pretext.
In 2011, J-1 workers at a Pennsylvania plant that packed Hersheys chocolates organized with the National Guestworker Alliance (NGA) and went
on strike to protest work conditions. The work is very hard there, and we
couldnt do anything else after maybe take a shower, eat something and go
to sleep, thats it. It was terrible, Cosmin Isvoranu, a mechanical engineering student from Romania, told Public Radio International.24
Two years later, J-1 workers at a McDonalds in Harrisburg, Pa., joined
with the NGA and protested their work conditions. All the days it was double shift, double shift, said Fernando Acosta of Paraguay, whose workday
often began at 7 a.m. and didnt end until 11 p.m.25
Complaints to sponsors may fall on deaf ears

A key problem with the J-1 program is that the State Department relies on
sponsors to monitor recruiters and employers for violations of the programs regulations.26 The State Department claims it only has the authority
to sanction sponsors, not employers, for program violations. Even when an
employer fails to pay students the minimum wage, it is the sponsor and
only the sponsor that the State Department says it can hold accountable.
This approach all but guarantees limited oversight. Sponsors revenue largely depends on their ability to collect fees from students for placing them with employers. Sponsors build relationships with employers to
ensure they have jobs for their fee-paying J-1 participants. Therefore, it is
unlikely that the sponsor will jeopardize its business relationship with the
employers and open itself to sanctions by reporting employer misconduct.27
Students reported to the SPLC that their sponsors often were unresponsive to complaints about workplace problems and program violations.
Students also described incidents of sponsors creating roadblocks when
they attempted to change jobs.
When Shevaughn Davis, a student from Jamaica who was barely sustaining herself cleaning 22 hotel rooms a day for $8 per hour with no cultural interaction, asked her sponsor to transfer her to a new job, the sponsor refused. Program regulations only allow students to work for employers
that are approved by the sponsor.28 If the sponsor is reluctant to make waves
with the current employer, it may not permit the student to transfer to a
new job. This dynamic effectively prevents students from leaving abusive
employers.

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Shevaughn Davis paid more than

$2,000 to come from Jamaica for the
opportunity to work at a resort in
Myrtle Beach, S.C. She barely earned
enough to pay for basic necessities,
and her sponsor refused her request
to change jobs.

The sponsor oversight model also discourages sponsors from breaking

ties with a misleading recruiter when that recruiter is continuously supplying it with fee-paying students. This is especially problematic because,
even though sponsors are required to look after the student, many students
reported to the SPLC that they turn to their recruiter not their sponsor
as the first point of contact when problems arise. According to the students,
it is not unusual for recruiters to provide students with bad advice or completely ignore their complaints. The students reliance on their recruiter to
address problems is more evidence that recruiters need to be regulated.
The overall lack of oversight within the J-1 program is one reason many
students return to their countries with stories for their family and friends of
broken promises, debt and exploitation that benefited only the bottom line
of sponsors and employers.
Inadequate oversight

Even when students report sponsors or employers to the State Department,

there is little hope the department will address their concerns.
The majority of SWT students interviewed for this report said that
when they called the departments hotline to complain about their sponsor they received either an inadequate response or no response at all. This

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is consistent with the experience of the SPLC and other advocates who have
submitted formal complaints on behalf of students to the department.
While the State Departments enforcement actions against sponsors have
increased in recent months, they are overall still infrequent and many of
the sponsors sanctioned received the mildest sanction available a letter of
reprimand and a corrective action plan.29 Given these actions, the department is not wielding much of a stick to ensure sponsors comply with the
program regulations.
Since 1990, the Government Accountability Office and the State
Departments Office of Inspector General (OIG) have expressed concerns
over the State Departments inadequate oversight of the J-1 program.30
These reports found the departments overreliance on sponsor disclosures,
inadequate staffing and resources, and lack of on-site reviews of sponsors to
be critical failures in its enforcement strategy.31
A 2012 report by the OIG charged that the department struggles to provide adequate oversight of sponsors.32 The report was issued after the
department apparently strengthened its enforcement of SWT sponsors
compliance by conducting additional on-site reviews and issuing tighter
regulations in 2011.
Because the department claims it has no jurisdiction over employers, J-1
workers whose workplace rights have been violated are forced to turn to
another federal agency, such as the Department of Labor, or they must hire
a private lawyer to find meaningful relief. J-1 exchange visitors are not eligible for federally funded legal services, and they often lack the resources
to hire private counsel. Lawyers also are reluctant to take cases involving international litigation, especially when such cases involve claims that
might not be as lucrative given the short amount of time the students work
in the United States.
Without an effective way to enforce the few worker protections the program regulations offer, companies will continue to use the J-1 program as a
source of cheap labor even if the State Department takes steps to re-establish it as a cultural exchange program.
U.S. workers have few protections when employers hire J-1s

The J-1 program regulations offer few protections to U.S. workers. Unlike
other guest worker programs, employers are not required to recruit U.S.
workers before hiring J-1 workers, and they are not required to pay the J-1
workers a wage that the government has determined will not drive down the
wages of U.S. workers a prevailing wage.
This program is a scam. It is not a cultural-exchange program, Sen.
Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said during the immigration debate in 2013. It is displacing young American workers at a time of double-digit unemployment

14

among young people, and it is putting downward pressure on wages at a time

when the American people are working longer hours for lower wages.33
The regulations require sponsors to ensure that host employers pay at
least the applicable minimum wage or the wages and benefits offered to
their U.S. counterparts, whichever is higher.34 But, unlike other guest worker
programs, they do not have to pay a wage that is certified by the Department
of Labor to protect the wages of U.S. workers. It is left to the sponsor and the
employer, which is likely hoping to pay the lowest wage possible, to determine a wage equal to that of a U.S. worker.
The State Department also leaves it up to the sponsor to determine
whether employers are displacing U.S. workers by using the J-1 program.
Sponsors do not have the expertise to fulfill this duty, and they only have to
assess whether U.S. workers are being displaced at the beginning of each
placement season.35 Theres no requirement for sponsors to follow up on
how U.S. workers are being affected.
In other guest worker programs, the Department of Labor has the
authority to enforce key labor market regulations such as wages and the displacement of U.S. workers.

The J-1 program is regulated by the

State Department, which claims
no authority to cite employers or
recruiters for deceptive practices
or other abuses.

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SECTION TWO

Summer Work Travel students

end up cleaning rooms with no
cultural exchange opportunities
While the State Department does not disclose information regarding the
occupations Summer Work Travel (SWT) students hold, the SPLCs investigation into the hospitality industry in the South indicates that housekeeping is one of the programs leading occupations.
But the stories J-1 students tell about their work experience make it clear
that housekeeping should be added to the departments list of banned SWT
occupations. Housekeeping jobs afford little, if any, opportunity for on-thejob cultural exchange while taking a physical toll on these students. And
as the State Department admits housekeeping jobs are frequently associated with human trafficking.36 Given the inherent risks and the lack of
cultural exchange opportunities, there is no legitimate reason for placing
SWT students in these jobs.

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Many students placed in housekeeping jobs work alone or in teams of

two cleaning rooms all day, and often must meet a high quota of rooms to
avoid suspension or firing. Cultural exchange takes a backseat to the pressure of meeting these quotas and making enough money simply to survive. Many students say they did not have the energy to seek out cultural
exchange activities after work.
Medalit, a J-1 SWT student from Peru who cleaned hotel rooms at a highend resort casino in Biloxi, Miss., complained of back pain, skin rashes and
overwhelming physical exhaustion that prevented her from doing anything
after work.
My paycheck for 67 hours of work was only for $189.29 because my
employer deducted $300 for housing, she said. I wanted to take a break
from the job, but I couldnt. There was no opportunity to rest when you
make so little money. We needed to work hard and clean a lot of rooms to
make enough money to survive.
Samantha (not her real name), a student from Jamaica, worked in teams
of two with other J-1 students at a Microtel hotel in Gulf Shores, Ala. The
students had to clean 22 rooms per day. She spent long hours cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors. Her ankles were swollen from standing all day.
Her wrists hurt from lifting mattresses and changing sheets. She received
only a 10-minute break for lunch just enough time to buy something from
a vending machine.
Her wage of $7.25 per hour barely covered basic necessities. She had little money left to enjoy cultural experiences, such as seeing a movie or shopping. She was even forced to find a second job to make ends meet and help
her parents pay the loans they had taken out to pay the programs fees.
As these students experience shows, housekeeping work is physically debilitating. A peer-reviewed study of injury rates in the hotel industry found that housekeepers have a higher rate of injury and sustain more
severe injuries than most other service workers.37 According to the study,
housekeepers are 40 percent more likely to be injured on the job than other
service workers.38
As one J-1 student from the Eastern European country of Moldova said,
Its like they just want us for the hard jobs that dont pay a lot of money;
they dont care were studying engineering or computer science, they just
want us to clean.
Laura Franco and her sister, Adela, believed they had found a life-changing
opportunity.
After meeting with a labor recruiter and spending hours browsing through a website, both were convinced that leaving the Dominican

17

We felt uncomfortable and isolated, and our

sponsor would not help us.
LAURA FRANCO, A J-1 STUDENT FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Republic to work in Tennessee as J-1 guest workers was a great way to spend
their summer break from college in 2012.
According to the recruiter, their jobs would be simple: cleaning rooms in a
fancy hotel and tending to guests for eight hours a day, six days a week. They
were promised a monthly salary of $1,300. Room and board would be free.
Although housekeeping didnt have any connection to their studies, they
saw it as an opportunity to improve their English and meet people from
other cultures. It also would be a dream come true to become the first members of their family to visit the United States.
That dream became a nightmare.
Even before Laura and Adela arrived in the United States, the cost to
participate in the program exceeded $4,000 once visa fees, embassy interview fees, immigration document processing, recruiting fees and airfare
were paid. Laura and Adela used their savings, borrowed money from family
members and even used a lending cooperative to pay for the trip.
After a successful interview at the U.S. embassy, their passports were
mailed to the recruiters office. To get their passports, the recruiter asked
the sisters to bring two relatives to vouch for them. Laura brought her
mother and aunt to the office. The women were handed a document. They
were told that if they did not sign it, the sisters would not be allowed to
travel to the United States.
Lauras mother and aunt believed they were simply signing character fitness statements. The reality was much different: The document was framed
as a loan agreement that claimed Laura and her sister had borrowed $7,000
from the recruiter. Lauras family was required to put up their homes as collateral that would be collected in the event the sisters failed to return.
When the sisters finally arrived in Tennessee, they were shocked by what
they found. They wouldnt be sleeping in the fancy hotel they were told
about. Instead, they were ordered to sleep with the horses in the resorts
stables. They also were expected to tend to the horses and maintain the stables in addition to cleaning rooms.
Opportunities for cultural exchange were virtually impossible. The
hotel was isolated, far from places where they could meet Americans who
werent hotel guests. Their employer didnt provide transportation, leaving

18

Sisters Laura and Adela of

the Dominican Republic were
forced to sleep in these stables
at a resort in Tennessee after
being promised free room and
board at a fancy hotel.

the women practically stranded. The sisters were forced to walk long distances to buy food and telephone calling cards.
Adela began having panic attacks. The sisters left Tennessee and began
looking for work elsewhere a decision that put their visas in danger of
being revoked because their sponsor did not approve them to work anywhere else.
I felt like we had no choice, Laura said. We had paid so much money
to come here and have a decent job and cultural exchange experience. What
we got was not what we signed up for. We felt uncomfortable and isolated,
and our sponsor would not help us. But we couldnt go home because we had
taken out loans to come to the U.S. and we had to pay back our debt.
Laura was unable to return to the Dominican Republic by the recruiters
deadline. She stayed behind to earn enough money to pay off her debt. The
recruiter is now suing her to enforce the contract.
Laura and her family fear they may lose their homes and possessions.

19

I would never have come had I known the

job was going to be so bad.
CHAKKVI MAAX SUKSAWAS, A J-1 STUDENT FROM THAILAND

Chakkvi Maax Suksawas, before starting a career in engineering, wanted

to visit the United States, experience its culture and improve his English
in the process.
A recruiter in Thailand introduced the 24-year-old student to the J-1
program. Maax was promised a good job and the cultural exchange opportunities he had hoped to find. It sounded great. He paid the recruiter a fee of
nearly $1,500 and then spent another $1,500 for airfare.
When he arrived, the sponsor found work for him as a housekeeper at
LAuberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La. Rather than working directly for
the resort, Maax and other J-1 students worked for one of the casinos subcontractors along with a large group of H-2B guest workers (a foreign worker program with no cultural exchange component) cleaning hotel rooms.
The J-1 students were required to clean 16 to 20 rooms per day, and had
only 15 to 30 minutes to clean each one. If they did not meet the quota, they
were threatened with disciplinary action or firing. They were paid $8 per
hour, even though the recruiters website promised $8.50 per hour.
Maaxs wages shrank after his employer deducted expenses from his
check. These expenses included a $350 monthly deduction for rent, which,
when collected from four other students living in the apartment, amounted
to more than double the fair rental value of the apartment. His employer
deducted another $70 each month for transporting Maax to work. These
deductions often pushed his pay below minimum wage.
Maax was left with little money to purchase basic necessities, let alone
participate in cultural exchange activities. Throughout his stay, Maax wrote
to the Thai recruiting agency and his American sponsor to lodge complaints
but received no response.
He was eventually fired for leaving work early due to illness. He returned
to Thailand before his program ended and never recovered the money he
spent for the program.
I borrowed money from my mom to pay for the program, he said. But
after I came back from the United States I was only able to give her $300; its
not enough to pay her back. I would never have come had I known the job
was going to be so bad.

20

Chakkvi Suksawas of Thailand

paid $3,000 in fees and travel
costs to work at the LAuberge
Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La.
Stuck cleaning rooms all day and
charged exorbitant rent to live with
other students he had little money
or time for cultural activities.

Shevaughn Davis thought she had found the perfect opportunity to earn

money for her school tuition.

A recruiter in her home country of Jamaica told her about the J-1 program. She was promised at least 40 hours of work per week at a U.S. hotel,
manageable workloads and a high-quality cultural exchange experience.She was told it would be an easy way to save money for school.
She paid the Jamaican recruiter, International Recruiting Staffing
Solutions, $1,100 to work in the housekeeping department at the Avista
Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She spent an additional $965 for program
and visa fees and roundtrip airfare. Though the costs were adding up, she
thought it would be worth it.
The truth fell far short of the recruiters promises.
Once in Myrtle Beach, Shevaughn was expected to clean up to 22 hotel
rooms during a seven-hour shift. Other Jamaican J-1 students were asked to
clean two to three condominiums and three to four additional hotel rooms
during a six-hour shift. The students who failed to meet these quotas saw
their work hours cut the next day. When Shevaughn asked to be placed with
a different employer, her sponsor said it was not possible.
Shevaughn earned between $8 and $8.40 per hour. After paying rent,
there wasnt much money left to save for school. Her sponsor had placed
the J-1 workers in overpriced housing. Each student paid $316 per month
for a two-bedroom apartment shared by four to six workers. There was little

21

opportunity for cultural exchange as Shevaughn was barely able to cover

basic necessities.
We work so hard, for so little pay, and all of it goes to rent and to pay
back the money that my mother paid so that I could come here, Shevaughn
said. Had I known the job was not going to be a true cultural exchange
experience, I would have never come.

A student from Moldova who stayed

in this room felt disillusioned by
the experience working in the J-1
program: Its like they just want us
for the hard jobs that dont pay a lot of
money. They dont care were studying
engineering or computer science, they
just want us to clean.

22

Katerina felt deceived about

her job, earnings and cultural
exchange opportunities after
leaving her home in Bulgaria for
a J-1 job.

SECTION 3

Interns and trainees misled,

used as cheap labor
More than 30,000 students participate in the J-1 Trainee and Intern
Program each year.39 Through this program, college students, graduates and
others can receive 12 to 18 months of work and training experience in the
United States. 40
Unlike the J-1 Summer Work Travel Program, these workers cannot be
placed in jobs that only require unskilled or casual labor. They must be
placed in jobs that will provide structured training to enhance the skills and
expertise of exchange visitors in their academic or occupational fields.41
This program also has a cultural exchange goal of increasing the participants understanding of American culture and society, an experience that
will allow them to share their experiences with their countrymen.42

23

If the program had stayed true to its original

purpose, I have no doubt it would have
benefited all of us. But I didnt have to come
to the U.S. to learn how to make beds. I could
have done that at home and not borrowed
thousands of dollars from my family.
HUONG TRAN, A J-1 TRAINEE FROM VIETNAM

Unfortunately, many of these workers share stories of deceit at the hands

of recruiters and sponsors after discovering they will be performing menial,
unskilled labor for the duration of their internships in the United States.
If the program had stayed true to its original purpose, I have no doubt it
would have benefited all of us. But I didnt have to come to the U.S. to learn
how to make beds, said Huong Tran, a J-1 trainee from Vietnam. I could
have done that at home and not borrowed thousands of dollars from my
family.
As in the Summer Work Travel Program, these workers are typically
recruited by overseas agencies that connect them with U.S. sponsors.
Participants often pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees to the sponsors and recruiters to cover registration and other program costs. They also
must pay their own travel costs.
Before departing to the United States, interns and trainees receive a
Training/Internship Placement Plan. It includes the work location and
training strategy, which often involves rotating the worker through various
departments. The plan details the skills that workers will acquire in each
rotation and how much they will be paid. It is signed by the employer, sponsor and participant.
Many interns and trainees expect this plan to serve as a contract guaranteeing their training experience, and they rely on it when they invest thousands of dollars to make the trip to the United States. Part of the plans purpose is to distinguish between bona fide training programs and casual work.
There are a number of positions the State Department classifies as
unskilled or casual labor, including hotel and motel cleaners, janitors and
dining room attendants, that should not be included in a J-1 intern or trainees work.43 Unfortunately, J-1 workers in the Intern and Trainee Program

24

report being placed in prohibited jobs, such as maids or busboys, for the
duration of their internship. Even worse, worker complaints about program
violations have been met with threats of deportation or other forms of retaliation from sponsors and recruiters.
The State Department problematically relies on sponsors to ensure
employers comply with the program regulations. Sponsors are even responsible for ensuring employers actually provide a training experience.44 The
State Department can sanction the sponsors for placing workers in unsuitable jobs, but sanctions are infrequent and the majority of the sponsors
sanctioned in the past seven years received the weakest sanction available
a letter of reprimand.45
The programs weak regulation comes at the expense of not only the foreign interns and trainees but U.S. workers as well. Although sponsors are
required to certify that neither they nor any host employer will displace
American workers, it is unclear how this certification is evaluated for compliance by the State Department, if it is evaluated at all.46
Lhan Kassemwattan came from Thailand in 2011 on a J-1 visa to work at a
hotel in Orlando, Fla., for a year.
She applied to the J-1 Intern and Trainee Program because it promised to
provide training and a certificate in hospitality management a potential
boon to her career. She also looked forward to the opportunity to improve
her English.
Lhan paid the Thai recruiters and the U.S. sponsor $8,000 to get the job
more than one years salary in Thailand. She borrowed the money from
her mother, believing that she would be able to pay it back. After all, the
recruiter said she would make $1,000 each month.
After arriving in the United States, however, the employer told her and
the other J-1 students that the jobs were not yet available. Lhan and the others had to borrow more money from their families to pay rent and buy food
in the meantime.
After a month, the hotel placed Lhan in housekeeping. The workers repeatedly asked about switching to positions promised by the training plan, but the hotel never took them out of housekeeping. Lhan spent
her entire internship making beds and cleaning toilets. She never made the
$1,000 per month she was promised.
Lhans experience isnt unique. Many interns and trainees invest thousands of dollars to come to the United States to receive professional training, only to spend their internship doing unskilled labor.
What the sponsor and recruiter told me about the internship turned out
to be a lie, she said. If I had known I was only going to be cleaning hotel
rooms, I would not have paid so much money for the job.

25

Lhan complained many times to the Thai recruiter, but nothing changed.
After she complained, the U.S.-based agency working with her sponsor
threatened to terminate her program, cancel her visa and deport her.
The money to come here is a lot, but it is not just the money, it is our
lives and hopes for the future, she said. Our families put all their hopes
and dreams and money into our future and hope that we will get training here and then better ourselves and return home to make a better life.
Instead, our dreams were shattered.
Fernanda Alquinga Defaz was looking for an opportunity to jumpstart her

career in hospitality management.

She discovered the J-1 Trainee and Intern Program through a brochure
at her college in Ecuador. A recruiter introduced her to a sponsor, whose
materials boasted that J-1 workers would receive the knowledge, practical
training, leadership and multicultural skills necessary to succeed as a hospitality industry leader.
It sounded like the big break shed been seeking. It was not only an
opportunity to get the training she needed, but she would receive it at an
American resort.

Lhan Kassemwattan of Thailand was promised training in hospitality management at a

hotel in Orlando. But after paying $8,000 as
part of the J-1 Trainee and Intern Program,
she spent her entire internship making beds
and cleaning toilets and never earned the
$1,000 per month she expected.

26

What the sponsor and recruiter told me

about the internship turned out to be a lie.
If I had known I was only going to be cleaning
hotel rooms, I would not have paid so much
money for the job.
LHAN KASSEMWATTAN, A J-1 TRAINEE FROM THAILAND

Fernanda paid nearly $3,000 for the opportunity, including $1,500 in

fees to the Ecuadorian recruiter and the J-1 sponsor. Before leaving for the
United States, she received a signed, detailed training plan from her sponsor. It guaranteed advanced training in management, leadership, supervision, scheduling and customer service.
It appeared as if everything was on track.
After Fernanda arrived in the United States in 2011, the sponsor placed
her in the food and beverage department at the Embassy Suites Oceanside
Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She spent her time wiping down tables, mopping, polishing silverware and sweeping a far cry from the management
training she was promised.
She never received any advanced training.
When I arrived to the U.S. and started working, I felt tricked, she said.
I would have never invested so much money in the program had I known it
was not going to be a training experience. But I had spent so much money to
participate that I couldnt just turn around and leave.
Her pay was below the federal minimum wage. She was paid a $200 stipend every two weeks for performing at least 40 hours of work each week.
Fernanda and some of her co-workers filed complaints against the
J-1 sponsor and the hotel with the Departments of State and Labor. The
Department of Labor collected back wages on Fernandas behalf for the
minimum wage violations. Despite this success, Fernanda knows other J-1
interns and trainees may not be so fortunate.
Im happy I recouped some of the money I lost, but I worry that my
sponsor and other J-1 sponsors are continuing to recruit young people with
false promises, she said.

27

28

SECTION FOUR

J-1 workers vulnerable to

trafficking, other dangers
The failure of the J-1 program is more than a story of debt and disappointment. It has put young students from foreign shores at risk of human trafficking and other nefarious activity.47
Even the State Department concedes that housekeeping jobs, which are
common jobs for Summer Work Travel students, are frequently associated
with human trafficking.48
The departments 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report noted that vulnerabilities in the J-1 program reports of fraudulent job offers, inappropriate
employment, canceled jobs and problems with housing and transportation
can potentially facilitate human trafficking.49
Trafficking experts have even contended that the State Departments
management of the J-1 program a work program with well-documented
vulnerabilities compromises the departments ability to carry out its
global anti-trafficking goals.50
The dangerous failures of this program were evident in 2011, when a
sponsor placed a group of Summer Work Travel students from Peru in
housekeeping jobs at a casino hotel in Biloxi, Miss.
The sponsor placed them in these jobs even though the casino and a subcontractor employing the students had been sued just three months earlier
by H-2B guest workers. The lawsuit had accused the employers of violating
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.51
The former H-2B guest workers worked in the same casino, performed
the same jobs and lived in the same apartments as the J-1 students.
Though this lawsuit should have raised red flags, the sponsor did not
inform the J-1 students.

29

It was almost normal that [our store

manager] screamed, that we worked
14 hours, that we ate on the floor. That was
our America.
LULIIA BOLGARYNA, A J-1 WORKER FROM THE UKRAINE

When we discovered that our employers had been sued for labor exploitation, we were really angry and sad, said Christian, one of the J-1 students.
We had spent so much money to participate in the program. Now we were
going to have to spend even more money to find a new placement and new
housing to get away from our host employer.
J-1 workers flood charities

Other J-1 workers have found themselves struggling just to find a meal.
In Maryland, an Associated Press investigation found that the Ocean City
Baptist Church served more than 1,700 J-1 workers from 46 countries who
sought free meals during the summer of 2010 an apparent symptom of
the meager wages paid to the workers.52
In Virginia Beach, Va., one homeless shelter experienced such an influx
of J-1 workers seeking a meal that it began running out of food, forcing shelter officials to take the step of limiting the frequency that students could eat
there, according to the AP investigation.
Luliia Bolgaryna, a J-1 worker from the Ukraine who worked at a souvenir store in Surf City, N.C., was forced to eat her meals on the floor of
her managers house, where she and two other women paid $120 a week in
rent.53 The manager wouldnt let the women sit with him at the table. It
was almost normal that he screamed, that we worked 14 hours, that we ate
on the floor, Bolgaryna said. That was our America.54
Even the seemingly ideal situation of working at a beachfront store can
become a harrowing ordeal for J-1 workers, the SPLC has found. Aisha
Matarneh and Reem Husein Shajrawi came to the United States from
Jordan in 2009 on a Summer Work Travel visa after paying between $2,000
and $3,000 each for such a job.
Once in the United States, their sponsor put them in the care of a man
named Vladimir. The women were told he would find housing and jobs for
them in Gulf Shores, Ala. He placed them in a two-bedroom house with 10
other J-1 students who were forced to share twin beds or sleep on the floor.

30

31

The back view of living quarters for

several J-1 workers in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Vladimir denigrated the young women with anti-Arab epithets and

refused to give them a job because he claimed he hated Jordanians. He
eventually relented. He said they were hot girls and would be good cocktail waitresses. He put them to work at a night club.
Both students thought the job was inappropriate but felt they had no
choice. They had to find some way to pay back the debt they had accumulated to participate in the program. Reem eventually refused the job a
decision that resulted in her being told to leave her housing.
Despite complaining to their sponsor several times about their situation,
Aisha was told she was just experiencing culture shock.55 No one seemed
to care about their plight. The women reached the SPLC and another advocacy group that informed them of their rights. Unfortunately, as many
workers will attest, not all J-1 students are so fortunate. For those students,
the programs weaknesses could have devastating consequences.

When J-1 housing in

Myrtle Beach, S.C., became
overcrowded, the seats in this
bus were removed so that it
could house student workers.

32

RECOMMENDATIONS

New laws, regulations

required to protect J-1
foreign exchange students
and U.S. workers
The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program has veered from its original mission of
cultural exchange. Far from tools of diplomacy, the Summer Work Travel
and Trainee and Intern programs in particular have become expansive and
virtually unregulated low-wage guest worker programs that are spinning
out of control as employers use them as sources of cheap and vulnerable
labor.
As demand for J-1 workers in low-wage employment increases, so will
incidents of abuse and fraud. This result will come at the expense of both
J-1 workers and the U.S. workers they displace. It will also harm the international reputation of the United States. Congress and the State Department
must make fundamental changes to the program to break this cycle and
return the program to its original mission of cultural exchange.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SUMMER WORK TRAVEL AND TRAINEE
AND INTERN PROGRAMS
I. Recommendations for Congress:

k Place a statutory cap on the number of exchange visitors who can enter
the United States in the J-1 Summer Work Travel category. This cap should
be adjusted annually and correspond to the youth unemployment rate.
k Require employers seeking to use J-1 guest workers to first recruit U.S.
workers for the jobs and certify that no U.S. workers are available before hiring J-1 workers.

33

k Require employers to pay J-1 guest workers a prevailing wage established

by the Department of Labor. This requirement will prevent J-1 workers
from depressing the wages of U.S. workers.
k Authorize the Department of Labor to oversee and regulate the work
aspects of the J-1 exchange visitor program.
k Regulate the recruitment of J-1 guest workers. Regulations, for example,
should prohibit sponsors and international labor recruiters from charging
fees to potential participants and require more transparency in the recruitment process. Fees that are currently charged to participants should be
shifted to the employers that ultimately benefit from the J-1 guest workers
labor.
k Require employers to bear all the costs of recruiting and transporting J-1
guest workers to the United States to prevent workers from arriving deeply
in debt.
k Implement statutes that protect J-1 workers from retaliation when they
organize or complain about working conditions.
k Grant J-1 guest workers a private, federal cause of action to enforce the
promises in their job order as well as their contracts with recruiters, sponsors and employers.
k Make J-1 workers eligible for federally funded legal services so they have
meaningful access to justice in the United States.
II. Recommendations for the Department of State and other federal agencies
administering the J-1 program:

k The Department of State and Department of Labor should engage in joint

and active enforcement of program rules governing recruiters, sponsors and
host employers.
k The cultural exchange aspects of the program should be expressly defined
by regulation and the acceptable jobs for Summer Work Travel participants
need to be enumerated in the regulations. Sponsors should not be permitted
to place students in jobs outside of the established list.
k Housekeeping and other jobs with little opportunity for cultural
exchange should be added to the list of banned occupations for the Summer
Work Travel Program.
k Regulations should establish a minimum level of cultural activity that
a sponsor is required to provide to program participants outside of the
workplace.

34

k J-1 workers should be guaranteed a minimum number of work hours to

ensure they have sufficient income to defray their costs and partake in cultural activities without having to get a second job.
k Sponsors should be required to independently verify that any housing
costs or deductions are consistent with the fair rental value in the area, and
submit confirming documentation to the departments.
k Employers should be prohibited from simultaneously using the J-1 program and the H-2 guest worker programs. They should also be barred from
employing J-1 guest workers if the employer has been certified for H-2
workers to perform the same or similar work in the past three years or if it
has been found to have violated program rules in any other guest worker
visa category, is being investigated by any federal agency for alleged violations, or is party to an ongoing lawsuit related to the alleged violations.
k Sponsors and employers should be required to certify to the Department
of State and the Department of Labor that they complied with all program
regulations and applicable federal and state laws before each placement
season begins.
k Information about the J-1 program (including the occupations J-1 workers are employed in and the wages paid to them) should be made publicly
available and easily accessible to ensure that the program and its impact on
the U.S. labor market can be monitored and that the regulating agencies can
be held accountable by stakeholders and the public.
III. Recommendations for Trainee and Intern Program regulations:

k Regulations should require that all internships and training programs

meet the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Payment schemes,
such as stipends, that result in an hourly wage rate below the federal minimum wage should be expressly prohibited.
k Regulations should establish a minimum amount of on-the-job training
that employers or sponsors must provide to interns and trainees.
k Regulations should bar housekeeping, janitorial work, dining room attendants or other unskilled work from mandatory rotations in the hospitality
industry.
k Regulations should require sponsors and host employers to certify to
the Department of State and Department of Labor that they will not place
interns or trainees in casual or unskilled labor, as currently defined by the
regulations, in addition to certifying that they will comply with the program
regulations, before the internship or training program begins.

35

These J-1 students walk to work at

a Microtel hotel in Gulf Shores, Ala.
They each had to clean 22 rooms a day.

ENDNOTES
1 22 U.S.C. 2451.
2 26 U.S.C. 3121(b)(19), 3306(c)(19).
3 See, e.g., Seasonal Staffing Solutions, www.seasonalstaff.org/Tax-Benefits-For-Employers-Hiring-J1-Foreign-Staff.html (American Employers can legally save 7.79% off their total payroll expenses simply by promoting cultural exchange and hiring J1 students.) (last visited Nov. 7, 2013).
4 See, e.g., United States v. Trucchio, et al., No 11-cr-00614-VM (S.D. N.Y. filed Nov. 17, 2011) (J-1
SWT students forced to work as exotic dancers in New York); USA v. Berman, et al., 3:07-cr-00114LC-2 (N.D. Fla. filed Sept. 18, 2007) (J-1 SWT students used in labor trafficking scheme in the Florida
panhandle).
5 U.S. Dept of State, 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report, 385-86, www.state.gov/documents/organization/210742.pdf.
6 77 Fed. Reg. 27,593, 27,601 (May 11, 2012) (discussing the SWT program in light of high youth
unemployment rates).
7 Fredreka Schouten, Immigration Amendment Contains Deals Sought by Industry, USA Today, June

36

26, 2013, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/26/immigration-bill-carveoutscounselors-au-pairs-alaska-seafood/2460785/.

8 See generally Mary Bauer, Close to Slavery, Southern Poverty Law Center (2d ed. 2013),
www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/publication/SPLC-Close-to-Slavery-2013.pdf.
9 In 2012, there were 50,009 H-2B visas issued and 65,345 H-2A visas issued for a total of
115,354. Dept of State, Nonimmigrant Visas Issued by Classification, 2008-2012, available at www.
travel.state.gov/pdf/FY12AnnualReport-TableXVIB.pdf; see also Daniel Costa, Guestworker Diplomacy, Economic Policy Institute, 9 (2011), www.epi.org/files/2011/BriefingPaper317.pdf [hereinafter Guestworker Diplomacy] (citing statistics that indicate that the J- visa Exchange Visitor
Program, in terms of annual flow, is the largest category of nonimmigrant visas . . . .).
10 See, e.g., Patricia Medige & Catherine Griebel Bowman, U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy and the J-1
Visa Program: The State Departments Challenge from Within, 7 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 103,
125 (comparing the SWT and H-2B guest worker programs).
11 22 U.S.C. 2451.
12 State Department, J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program, j1visa.state.gov/basics/facts-andfigures// (last visited Nov. 7, 2013).
13 22 C.F.R. 62.3.
14 See generally 22 C.F.R. 62.22 (Trainee and Intern program regulations), 62.32 (Summer
Work Travel program regulations).
15 Fredreka Schouten, Au Pair Groups, Other Fight Senate Immigration Rules, USA Today, June 19,
2013, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/19/lobbying-cultural-exchange-visasau-pairs/2437589/.
16 Holbrook Mohr, Mitch Weiss, & Mike Baker, U.S. Impact: U.S. Fails to Tackle Student Abuses,
Associated Press, Dec. 6, 2010, www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/06/ap-impact-fails-tacklestudent-visa-abuses/.
17 Increase in Minimum Wage Takes Effect Today, Jamaican Info. Serv., Sept. 3, 2012, jis.gov.jm/
increase-in-minimum-wage-takes-effect-today/.
18 77 Fed. Reg. 27,593, 27,603 (May 11, 2012).
19 See generally International Labor Recruitment Working Group, The American Dream Up for
Sale, A Blueprint for Ending International Labor Recruitment Abuse, (Feb. 2013), fairlaborrecruitment.
files.wordpress.com/2013/01/the-american-dream-up-for-sale-a-blueprint-for-ending-international-labor-recruitment-abuse1.pdf.
20 77 Fed. Reg. 27,593, 27,608 (May 11, 2012) (reporting that SWT sponsors worked with 960
foreign recruiters in 2011).
21 22 C.F.R. 62.32(f).
22 See 77 Fed. Reg. 27,593, 27,601 (May 11, 2012).
23 U.S. Dept of State Office of the Inspector Gen., Inspection of the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, 25 (Feb. 2012), oig.state.gov/documents/organization/186048.pdf [hereinafter 2012
OIG Report].
24 Britta Conroy-Randall, Critics Accuse J Visa Program of Exploiting Foreign Student, The World,

37

Oct. 6, 2011, www.theworld.org/2011/10/j-visa-exploiting-foreign-students/.

25 David Wenner, Foreign Student McDonalds Workers Describe Excessive Hours, Little Privacy, The
(Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News, March 11, 2013, www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/03/
mcdonalds_foreign_students_che.html.
26 See generally 22 C.F.R. 62.32, 62.15, Appx D (requiring sponsors to submit annual reports
on their activities).
27 See Guestworker Diplomacy, supra, at 38 (discussing the conflict of interest inherent in the
SWT program).
28 22 C.F.R. 62.32(g)(2).
29 U.S. State Dept, Closed Sanction Cases Covering the Period 2006 to Date, j1visa.state.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/Closed-Sanction-cases-2006-to-Date-Master_Final.pdf (last visited
Nov. 7, 2013).
30 2012 OIG Report, supra; Govt Accountability Office (GAO), The Exchange Visitor Program
Needs Improved Management and Oversight, (Sept. 2000); GAO, U.S. Information Agency: Inappropriate Uses of Educational and Cultural Exchange Visas, (Feb. 1990).
31 See Guestworker Diplomacy, supra, at 17-18 (discussing the findings contained in three governmental reports regarding the Departments oversight of the J-1 program).
32 2012 OIG Report, supra, at 22-23.
33 Fredreka Schouten, Au Pair Groups, Others Fight Senate Immigration Rules, USA Today, June 19,
2013, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/19/lobbying-cultural-exchange-visasau-pairs/2437589/.
34 22 C.F.R. 62.32(i).
35 22 C.F.R. 62.32(n)(3).
36 See 22 C.F.R. 62.32(g)(8).
37 Susan Buchanan, et al., Occupational Injury Disparities in the U.S. Hotel Industry, Am. J. of Indus.
Med., Vol. 53, 111-25 (Feb. 2010).
38 Id. at 117.
39 State Department, J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program, j1visa.state.gov/basics/facts-andfigures// (last visited Nov. 7, 2013).
40 22 C.F.R. 62.22.
41 22 C.F.R. 62.22(b)(1)(i).
42 22 C.F.R. 62.22(b)(1)(i).
43 22 C.F.R. Part 62, Appx E.
44 22 C.F.R. 62.22(h)(4).
45 State Department, Closed Sanction Cases Covering the Period 2006 to Date, j1visa.state.gov/
wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Closed-Sanction-cases-2006-to-Date-Master_Final.pdf (last
visited Nov. 7, 2013); 22 C.F.R. 62.50.

38

46 22 C.F.R. 62.22(f)(2)(v).
47 See, e.g., United States v. Trucchio, et al., No 11-cr-00614-VM (S.D. N.Y. filed Nov. 17, 2011) (J-1
SWT students forced to work as exotic dancers in New York); United States v. Askarkhodjaev, No.
09-00143-01-CR-W-ODS (W.D. Mo. filed May 6, 2009) (foreign workers including J-1 visa holders were subjected to labor trafficking in 14 different states); USA v. Berman, et al., 3:07-cr-00114LC-2 (N.D. Fla. filed Sept. 18, 2007) (J-1 SWT students used in labor trafficking scheme in the
Florida panhandle).
48 See 22 C.F.R. 62.32(g)(8).
49 U.S. Dept of State, 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report 385-86, www.state.gov/documents/
organization/210742.pdf.
50 See Patricia Medige & Catherine Griebel Bowman, U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy & the J-1 Visa
Program: The State Departments Challenge From Within, 7 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 103, 141
(2012).
51 Antigo, et al. v. Lombardi, et al., No. 1:11-cv-00408-HSO-RHW (S.D. Miss. filed Oct. 28, 2011).
52 Holbrook Mohr, Mitch Weiss and Mike Baker, et al., J-1 Student Visa Abuse: Foreign Students
Forced to Work in Strip Clubs, Eat on Floors, The Associated Press, Dec. 6, 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/j1-student-visa-abuse-for_n_792354.html.
53 Id.
54 Id.
55 Information supplemented by interviews with Patricia Medige.

39

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The SPLC would like to thank the many individuals who contributed to this report,
especially the J-1 workers who came forward and shared their experiences. We
would also like to thank the many individuals and organizations that provided their
expertise and worker stories to the report, especially Vanessa Coe, Terry Coonan,
Daniel Costa, Jennifer Gordon, Patricia Medige, Kayvon Sabourian, Jennie Searcy
and Christopher Willet.
CREDITS
Author Meredith B. Stewart
Editors Booth Gunter, Jamie Kizzire, Jim Knoepp, Naomi Tsu
Researchers Janet Sosa, Palmer Buchholz, Kristin Donovan, Suchi Mathur,

Elizabeth Sprotzer
Design Director Russell Estes
Designer Sunny Paulk
Photography David Bundy (cover, page 2, 9, 10, 13, 22, 23, 28, 39);

Janet Sosa (page 2, 31, 32); Sunny Paulk (page 6); Russel KORD/

Photononstop/Corbis (page 10); Loren/Wikimedia (page 15); Patrick

Strattner/Getty Images (page 16); Jburge123/Wikimedia (page 21);

Aaron Ansarov (page 26); Charles Schug/Getty Images (page 28);

Laura Franco (page 19)
To view or share this report online, visit sp.lc/culture-shock-report
Media Inquiries (334) 956-8372

40

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

FIGHTING HATE | TEACHING TOLERANCE | SEEKING JUSTICE
The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Ala.,
is a nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1971 to combat bigotry
and discrimination through litigation, education and advocacy.
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